'Expert' gored by bulls says he'll run with them again

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Taking the bull by the horns

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Author and running with bulls expert Bill Hillman was gored during run in Pamplona, Spain, in July

Hillman blames 'first timers' or 'inexperienced guys' for his mishap

Now walking with a cane, he recently attended a bull-running event in San Sebastian de los Reyes, near Madrid

Hillman says he plans to run with bulls in the future, possibly next summer

Just weeks after a Chicago writer known as a veteran, expert bull runner was badly gored in Pamplona, he's back at other smaller bull runnings in Spain, but walking with a cane.

"I really didn't think he was gonna gore me until it happened. I really thought I was going to find a way to escape," said Bill Hillmann, who helped write a book, "Fiesta, How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona," shortly before a bull's horn tore into his right thigh.

That was July 9, the third day of Pamplona's historic, annual eight consecutive days of running, which Hillmann says he's run daily for numerous years.

A bull got separated from the other five bulls toward the end of the 850-meter (half-mile) course. Hillmann was trying to help lead the lone bull toward the nearby bullring, but says he was pushed from behind, tripped and fell.

"I've learned from this. I'll always be much more worried about who's behind me 'cause now I know, if I'm not aware of there being first timers behind me or inexperienced guys, it could be me gored," said Hillmann, who turned 33 this month.

He's facing a €9,000 (nearly $12,000) bill for hospital services in Pamplona, but is undaunted and is finishing a new book on how running with the bulls has changed his life.

Tempting fate in San Sebastian de los Reyes.

"I wasn't sure how I was going to end the book, but now I'm pretty sure the ending is going to be the goring," he said.

Pamplona's running of the bulls dates back centuries and became world famous thanks to novelist Ernest Hemingway.

But numerous other Spanish towns hold their own bull running each year, and Hillman arrived this week in San Sebastian de los Reyes, near Madrid, for its running.

In these towns, he tends to catch up with with a small group of other traveling men -- Spaniards and foreigners -- who have become regular, serial bull runners.

Photos: Gored in Pamplona 5 photos

Photos: Gored in Pamplona5 photos

Gored in Pamplona – Bill Hillmann, a 32-year-old man from Chicago, is carried on a stretcher after he was gored on his right leg during the annual running of the bulls Wednesday, July 9, in Pamplona, Spain. Hillmann has been running in Pamplona for about a decade, and he recently co-authored a book entitled "Fiesta, How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona."

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Photos: Gored in Pamplona5 photos

Gored in Pamplona – Hillmann was gored toward the end of the half-mile course -- just before the downhill slope that leads into a bull ring.

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Photos: Gored in Pamplona5 photos

Gored in Pamplona – Hillmann lies on the ground after being gored. His friend Alexander Fiske-Harrison described the gash as a "clean wound. It didn't touch a bone or an artery." Hillmann would later have surgery at a hospital, and he is expected to spend about four days there before he is released, Fiske-Harrison said.

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Gored in Pamplona – Some other runners apparently fell in front of Hillmann, and then he lost his balance, said fellow book contributor Jim Hollander, a veteran photographer.

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Gored in Pamplona – Hillmann is helped by medical officials. On the first three days of running this year, 13 people have been taken to the hospital -- three for goring-related injuries.

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EXPAND GALLERY

Hillmann brushes off criticism that the running of the bulls is animal cruelty.

"I don't see anything cruel about it," he insists. "The animals, they're just running. They don't get hurt in any way during the run."

Yet Hillmann points to the old traditions involving the bull-running events.

"I think it's fun, it's exciting," Hillmann said of the running. "I think it's stupid for people who know nothing about a tradition to judge someone who knows a lot about it and who loves it."

In San Sebastian de los Reyes, a group of Englishman proudly completed their first-ever bull running, and came across Hillmann, who was asked to pull up his right pants leg to show his hefty scar.

In San Sebastian de los Reyes, these Englishmen completed their first-ever bull running.

They asked if Hillmann would keep running and he said yes, although he doesn't expect that to be until next summer, after he's fully healed.

"I need to build up my courage again," he said, earlier in the day. "It's gotten a lot scarier now that I know exactly how dangerous it is, now that it's a reality."

After reviewing video and photos on a laptop computer of the day he was gored, Hillmann grimaced, and said, "Of course it was worth it. I knew the day I would get gored was coming. I was hoping I'd survive.

"I was hoping it wouldn't stop me from continuing to run, and I was lucky enough to survive and it looks like I'm going to be able to run again."